Film Preview: Anne Murray Full Circle

Riveting isn’t a word one would automatically apply to a feature-length documentary about legendary Canuck-born singer Anne Murray. 

And yet Anne Murray: Full Circle is positively transfixing in parts, and for all sorts of reasons including (but not limited to) its starry roster of interview subjects, the breadth and depth of its archival footage, its carefully plotted chronology and, especially, the insights and context provided by the subject herself.  

From her genuinely humble beginnings growing up in the coal mining town of Springhill, Nova Scotia to the sparkly main stages of Las Vegas — not to mention the hit records, Grammy Awards, TV appearances alongside Glen Campbell and Johnny Cash, Merv Griffin and Joan Rivers — Murray’s career was phenomenal. 

And yet the “Songbird” singer never lost the plot, never caved to drugs or diva demands, always stayed rooted to her essence as one of six kids growing up surrounded by music. In fact, as portrayed here, Murray was consistently nice, dedicated, and devoted to everyone in her orbit, from band members to contemporaries. 

You might think such a lack of drama would hobble the narrative. But the opposite is true. Murray is portrayed as occasionally inscrutable but unerringly, almost fascinatingly placid, always in control and guiding the trajectory of her career despite frequently being the only woman in the record company boardroom (this was the 1970s and 80s after all) while struggling under the demands of international stardom and motherhood. Who is this creature?

Full Circle offers some hints. Directors Morgan Elliott and Adrian Buitenhuis solicit comments from people across the music business (managers, journalists) as well as fellow musicians Shania Twain, k.d. lang, Bonnie Raitt, Jann Arden, Kenny Loggins, and Gordon Lightfoot, all huge fans who position Murray in the framework both of the eras she worked in as well as in the larger musical pantheon which has never sought to accommodate or celebrate the female perspective.

Similarly, much is made of Murray’s firm refusal to sit tight in one genre, skipping between pop, country, adult contemporary and, in the doc’s most surreal section, as a shoulder-padded, spiky haired, synth-backed, trend-chasing 80s chanteuse, a rare misstep in an otherwise assured path that resulted in her being dropped from one label only to pivot to another where she re-emerged as the beloved “crooner” we still know her as today.

Her 23-year, mostly happy marriage to music producer Bill Langstroth — quoted here at length and who candidly admits he was called Mr. Murray more than once, having sacrificed his own career to care for the couple’s two children while the missus hit the road — was further evidence of Murray’s exceptionalism in a business notorious for detonating relationships.

The doc also posits that Murray and Lightfoot, early musical trailblazers who achieved concrete stateside success, laid the foundation for today’s Canadian music industry, showing they could hold their own alongside American heavyweights without sacrificing their true natures. When we see an impossibly young and lovely Murray rocking a Springhill sweatshirt on TV (as a wink to her hometown), it’s clear where her loyalties lie.

The film’s title refers to where Murray is today: retired and back living in her cherished native Nova Scotia, where the only demands of the day are shooting under par and enjoying the crisp ocean air. And still wearing her hair defiantly short, an amusing aside in the film and yet another example of Murray’s refusal to bow to the sexist tropes of her industry.

Even viewers with no knowledge about (or deep interest in) Murray will be captivated by this incredible success story, brought to life by decades of footage and by Murray, whose tack-sharp memory and unfussy, down-to-earth outlook ensures a wonderfully relatable human picture emerges. 

Anne Murray: Full Circle screens at select Cineplex theatres nationwide Thursday, December 2 and debuts on CBC TV and CBC Gem Friday, December 17 at 8 pm (8:30 p.m. NT), streaming thereafter.